Towel bar



July 17, 1928. 1,677,280

A. C. GILBERT TOWEL BAR Filed Jan. 14, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 July17,1928.

1,677,280 A. c. GILBERT TOWEL BAR Filed Jan. 14, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Patented July 17, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFWEEZ.

ALFRED C. GILBERT, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN-MENTS, TO THE A. C. GILBERT COMPANY, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, A GOR-PORATION OF MARYLAND.

TOWEL BAR.

Application filed January 14, 1924. Serial No. 686,074.

\Vhen towels have been used and are somewhat wet or damp, it is verydesirable to have some means of quickly drying them.- This is especiallytrue in damp climates, such as places near the seashore, for example,where if damp or wet cloths are merely hung up they dry very slowly, infact, it is sometimes difficult to dry them at all indoors. It will, ofcourse, be understood thatthe method and apparatus herein disclosed iscapable of use with other articles which it is desired to heat or dry,as well as those specifically mentioned.

One object of my invention is to provide an improved method for dryingcloths, such as towels or the like.

Another object of my. invention is to pro vide a method of drying dampor wet cloths which makesuse of a self heated supporting element for thearticle to be dried, and which will be rapid and effective in itsoperation.

A still further object of my invention is to provide an improved form oftowel bar by which a towel may be effectually dried when hung thereover.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a towel bar with asupporting rod having: an interiorly disposed heating element, such thatthe surface of the rod will be. heated and the towel rapidly andeffectually dried when hung'thereover.

A still further object of my invention is to provide an electricallyheated towel drier which maybe installed in, abath-room or the like, andwhich will be ornamental in appearance and will be similar in allapparent respects to the ordinary towel bar, provision being made forcontrolling the heating current at will- To these and other ends, theinvention consists in the novel method and combination of parts to behereinafter described and claimed. t

In the accompanying drawings: 3

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a towel bar embodying my invention,secured in position on the wall; i

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view through the supporting bar;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view, while Fig. 4 is a sectionalview through one of the supporting brackets, showing the lead wirespassing into the wall. n

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a modification.

lVhile I have shownmy invention as applied to the supportingand dryingof towels upon a so-called towel bar, it will be understood that it iscapable of use in other relations and may be used generally in theheating and drying of cloths of all kinds. 1 prefer to so construct thecloth or towel support ing element so that the article to be dried maybe supported by being looped or folded thereover at a point intermediateits ends. It might be supposed that, when the sup porting element washeated, only that part of the article'would be dried which lies adjacentthe heated support, but I have dis covered that this is not the case,but on the contrary the cloth or towel will be dried in its entirety inarelatively short time. This is perhaps due to the fact that when thatpart of the article, such as a towel, is, dried adjacent the heated bar,moisture will rise from the depending ends by capillary action, and, inaddition, to the fact that the heat radiated from the lower half of thesupport ing element, which is not directly engaged the towel, will beconfined to some extent be tween the depending ends of. the towel andwill, therefore, be effectual in drying out this portion also- 3 In theembodiment of my invention which I have selected to illustrate, I haveshown a towel bar or rack designated generally by the numeral. 10,supported in the usual. manner upon. a wall 11. The towel rack comprisesa hollow ortubular supporting element or rod 12, which may be somewhatlarger than the corresponding part of the usual towel rack, and which atits ends is received in, and supported by hollow brackets 13 and 14,provided with openings 15 for the reception of fastening members bywhich it may. be secured to the Wall.

Within, the rod 12 is mounted a heat element which may be, and in thisinstance is, substantially co-extensive in length with the rod itself.This heat element consists of a supporting tube 16 which may be made ofany convenient substance, such as brass, the

tube being covered by a sheet of asbestos,

supporting element 12 in any preferred way,

such as being provided adjacent the ends thereof with sleeves or collars24 of inert lat-ing material which substantially fill the space betweenthe periphery of this element and the towel supporting rod 12. In theform shown, these sleeves consist of a wrapping of asbestos which hasbeen found to be suitable and desirable for this purpose.

The lead wires 19 and 20 which convey the electrical current to the heatelement are brought out at one end of the rod 12 and pass through thehollow portion of one of the end brackets 13, so that they may beobscured from view and pass into the wall 11. The current through thesewires may be controlled at 21 by any preferred form of switch, such as atumbler switch mounted upon the wall adjacent the towel rack, as shownat 22 in Fig. 1.

It will be obvious that I have provided a towel support which may bemade very ornamental in appearance as the metallic rod 12, as well asthe end brackets 13 and 14, may be covered with a coating of whiteenamel without destroying the effectiveness of the heating element, andas the wires pass into, the wall through the end brackets the articlecannot, be distinguished from the ordinary towel rack or bar, which isnot provided with a heat element. Not only will my improved device beornamental but it will also be found very convenient in drying towels orother cloths, which function will be accomplished in a rapid andeffectual manner.

Contrary perhaps to expectation, the towel or cloth when hung over thebar, as shown at 23, in Fig. 2, will not only be dried at portionsadjacent the supporting rod 12, but will be dried very quicklythroughout its entire extent.

In the modified form of my invention, which I have shown in Fig. 5, Iemploy two end brackets 27 and 28, similar to those shown in connectionwith the towel bar previously described. Between these end brackets issupported in horizontal position a tube or rod 29 of heat conductingmaterial with in which is a lining or sleeve 30 of asbestos, or otherrefractoryand insulating material. Within the asbestos lining is aresistance heat element comprising a coil of wire 31 wound about a core32, which may also be conveniently made of asbestos.

As shown, the resistance element may simply lie upon the asbestos liningat the bottom of the tube 29, or if desired, it may of course besuitably supported at the axis of the rod. The asbestos lining 30 mayproject slightly beyond the ends of the rod 29 in order to insulate thewire on the resistance element from the rod at this point if it isnecessary. I

Lead wires 33 and 34 may be passed into the wall through the hollow endbrackets 27 and 28, and may there be controlled by a suitable switch,diagrammatically shown at 35. The particular manner in which the leadwires pass from the resistance element to the switch is not ofimportance, however, in all aspects of the invention, in thismodification, as well as in the form of my invention shown in Figs. 1 toat, both wires may be caused to pass through a single bracket ifdesired.

While I have shown and described preferred embodiments of my invention,it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the detailsshown, nor to the precise manner of carrying out the improved methoddescribed herein, but on the contrary both apparatus and method arecapable of modification and change without departing from the spirit ofthe invention or from the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In an apparatus of the character described, a hollow cylindricaltowel supporting rod of heat conducting material, said rod beingprovided with imperforate walls, a resistance heater in the interior ofsaid rod, a sleeve of insulating material interposed between said heaterand rod, hollow end brackets within which the ends of the rod arereceived, said brackets being. provided with flange-like bases wherebythey may be attached to a wall, said bases being open on their sidesadjacent the wall, wires for furnishing electric power to said heaterpassing through at least one of said brackets and to said heater, saidwires being insulated from said brackets, said brackets and rodpresenting ext-eriorly a completely closed structure when secured on awall, and there being no exposed electrically charged parts.

2. The combination with a bathroom wall, of a towel bar structurecomprising a horizontal towel. rod, brackets supporting the said endbrackets and connected to said hea-ter'to supply heating currentthereto.

3. The combination with a bathroom wall, of a towel bar structureapplied thereto in substantial parallelism therewith, and comprising ahollow rod of substantial internal diameter provided with imperforatewalls, end brackets applied to the face of the room wall and havingsockets in which the ends of said rods are received for holding it inplace, and means within the rod for heating the body thereof and therebydrying towels supported thereon, said heating means comprising aresistance heater mounted in the interior of said rod, and concealedelectrical connections to said heater passing through at least one ofsaid end brackets, said brackets and rod being suitably insulated.

4. The combination with a bathroom wall, of atowel bar structure appliedthereto and extending in substantial parallelism therewith, andcomprising a hollow towel supporting rod of substantial internaldiameter open at the ends only, hollow end brackets having flangessecured to said wall and provided with hollow interior portions in whichthe ends of said rod are received for holding it in place on the wall, aresistance heater in the form of a coil located within the interior ofsaid rod and extending lengthwise thereof for heating said rodthroughout a substantial portion of its length to thereby dry atowelsupported thereon, means for insulating the heater coil from said rod,concealed electrical connections passing to said heater coil through atleast o-ne of said hollow end brackets, and means for insulating theelectrical connections from the structure consisting of the hollow rodand the end brackets, so that the said structure is pre vented frombeing electrically charged by the current passing to said heater coil.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 11th day ofJanuary, 1924.

ALFRED o. GILBERT.

